is a Japanese light novel

Light novel

A is a style of Japanese novel primarily targeting junior high and high school students . The term "light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Light novels are often called or for short...

 series written by Reki Kawahara and illustrated by Hima. It has been adapted into two manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 series and it will be adapted into an anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

.

Light novels

Accel World began as a light novel series written by Reki Kawahara and illustrated by Hima. Originally, Kawahara entered the first novel in the series into ASCII Media Works

ASCII Media Works

is a Japanese publishing company in the Kadokawa Group which formed on April 1, 2008 as a result of a merger between ASCII and MediaWorks where MediaWorks legally absorbed ASCII. Despite this, the former president of ASCII, Kiyoshi Takano, became the president of ASCII Media Works. The company...

' 15th Dengeki Novel Prize

Dengeki Novel Prize

The is a literary award handed out annually by the Japanese publisher ASCII Media Works for their Dengeki Bunko light novel imprint. The contest has discovered many popular and successful light novelists, like Kouhei Kadono and Yashichiro Takahashi. Originally called the Dengeki Game Novel...

 in 2008 and the novel won the Grand Prize. The first novel was published by ASCII Media Works on February 10, 2009 under their Dengeki Bunko

Dengeki Bunko

is a publishing imprint affiliated with the Japanese publishing company ASCII Media Works . It was established in June 1993 with the publication of Hyōryū Densetsu Crystania volume one, and is a light novel imprint aimed at a male audience...

 imprint. As of October 10, 2011, nine volumes have been published.

Manga

A manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 adaptation titled Accel World illustrated by Hiroyuki Aigamo began serialization in the May 2010 issue of ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Bunko Magazine

Dengeki Bunko Magazine

is a Japanese light novel magazine published by ASCII Media Works . The magazine succeeded the light novel magazine Dengeki hp, and originally was published as a special edition issue of Dengeki Daioh for the first two issues; the first issue was released on December 10, 2007...

. The first two tankōbon

Tankobon

, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...

volumes were released on July 27, 2011. A four-panel

Yonkoma

thumb|right|150px|Traditional Yonkoma layout, a comic-strip format, generally consists of gag comic strips within four panels of equal size ordered from top to bottom...

 comic strip

Comic strip

A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....

manga titled illustrated by Ryuryū Akari also began serialization in the May 2010 issue of Dengeki Bunko Magazine. The first tankōbon volume was released on July 27, 2011.